Getting Out of Town

Part of K's Valentine's gift to me was a trip up to McCall with him and his best friend and his best friend's wife and son. The major attraction being the Winter Carnival

We got around to seeing almost all the sculptures. Some were better than others but the ones that won prizes were most definitely deserving of the honor. I was a little awestruck at the attention to detail and the ambition of some of the artists. The fish to the left had hundreds of scales individually carved. The process must have been time-consuming indeed.
This year I noticed a technique they use for some of the more complicated sculptures, like the one that won the grand prize. They use chicken wire to hold the snow and more importantly to keep the sculpture from falling down in fragile places. If you notice the neck of the dragon on the right you will see it was starting to break. This is where you could see the use of the wire showing through the snow. It was a pretty incredible piece of work. This grand prize piece was complete with dragon, knight, king and queen on thrones, a moat, a castle and a little man's head peeping out of a dungeon. It was so intricate and beautiful. I can appreciate all the artistic ability and hard work it took to make something so impressive.

Also experienced on our trip was my first time on a snowmobile. First it was just K and me on a four wheeler but his best friend had rented a snowmobile and let us hop on and try it out near the end of their allotted time. It was great fun! I think we got up to 70 mph. And going up an embankment we did tip it once. Ha ha! That was fun!